Proposed Options - 2005

One of these is a Business as Usual Option - what will happen if we continue the current trends without change. The other three options propose different solutions for housing the extra 120,000 people who could live here by 2041. After each summary is a link to more detailed information about the option with a map indicating where development would take place.

All figures are Net Present Value - that is, they are estimates of future costs in today's dollars.

Business as Usual Option Summary

Development is between Christchurch and rural towns, and southwest to Rolleston and Lincoln, around Lyttelton Harbour and north of the Waimakariri River

21% of new housing is urban renewal (13,000 townhouses and apartments) and 79% in new subdivisions (49,000 new houses)

Issues that affect all the options

Water: Most of our drinking water comes from a series of aquifers to the northwest of Christchurch City . Protecting the quality of our drinking water is a top priority and limiting future development with an aquifer protection zone, as proposed by Environment Canterbury, makes sense no matter which option is chosen.

Airport noise zone: The efficient transportation of goods and people through the Christchurch International Airport is vital to our local economy. It is important that the airport functions efficiently; accordingly, further residential development is restricted in the area known as the airport noise zone.

Three other issues also have been factored into the proposed options: the need to reduce the risk of flooding from the Waimakariri River ; the importance of preserving the Port Hills and Lyttelton Harbour basin landscape; and the economic impact of the loss of productive farmland close to towns and the City. The aquifer protection zone, airport noise zone and Waimakariri flood plain all overlap in northwest Christchurch , so development of these areas is limited in all options.